Seeing Shadows
by MissAlternateUniverse
Summary: Movieverse Post LWW: The Pevensies are back in England, but they're not as safe as they thought... Edmund is haunted by his past, and the return of an old enemy forces him to realise that even at home his family isn't safe anymore, and he must sacrifice everything to protect those he loves. Rated K for mild violence and scary scenes. Same story, Different bio.
1. A Visit To The Headmaster

Edmund Pevensie sat in the corner of the room twiddling his pencil between his fingers, his glazed eyes staring at the clock hanging above the blackboard. It was the last day of term at Hendon House, and most of the boys were messing around and talking and passing notes, but not Edmund. He used to be like that a long time ago, but not anymore; he remembered a time when he would gladly hang around people like that and scowled. _Bunch of egoistic idiots, the lot of them_, he thought, and gazed out of the window where he could see a group of boys playing rugby outside. He quickly spotted his older brother among them: his dirty blond hair and eyes as blue as the Eastern Ocean, as Lucy often liked to say, marking him out as he ran towards the edge of the pitch and flung the ball far through the goal. Edmund swore he saw a glint of victory in his brother's eyes as he fell to his knees in exhaustion, the other boys looking on him with envy. _That's one thing you still got, Pete_, he whispered through the window, _you lost a lot when we came back from Narnia, but you still got that power, that resilience._ He then began to focus on his own reflection, his dark hair gently resting over his forehead and his dark onyx eyes that his father had given him. He sighed as he thought of his father still fighting in the war. He missed him so much.

"Pevensie!" He turned sharply to find his History professor, Dr. Crawley, staring venomously at him. "Have you been listening to a word I've been saying?" Some of the popular crowd at the back started smirking and elbowing their mates, eager not to miss the school loner getting into trouble. Edmund merely rolled his eyes. "You were telling us about how William the Conqueror beat Harold at the Battle of Hastings in 1066" he drawled, his words dripping with boredom. Crawley was beginning to go bright red like a tomato and his brow knotted furiously, but rather than intimidating Edmund he reminded him of a very fat and bloated pig. Unable to stop himself, he repressed a giggle.

"Are you disrespecting your elders Pevensie?!" Crawley bellowed in his face, drops of saliva hitting him in the face as he yelled, "As much as I'd expect from a runt with a half caste for a father!" Edmund felt the anger in him rising until he finally exploded. "Don't you **DARE** call my father that in front of me!" The class, which was before filled with whispers and laughter, fell silent as Crawley eyed his student with the most powerful look the boys had ever seen. "Headmasters Office, Pevensie. **NOW**."

At Hendon House, seeing the Head was never a good thing. You were never sent there to collect awards or congratulations, and certainly not just to have a little chat. There was only one reason boys were sent to the Head, and Edmund knew this more than anyone. As he walked down the cold hard corridors that made up the fine institution he wondered whether it would hurt him as much as it did before. He was a different person back then; the only pain he had known was the one he was once again about to face, the smooth burn of a cane smacked against your raw backside, but that was before they had gone to the country, Professor Kirke's house, and when it had all changed…

He snapped out of his daydream and realised that he was standing in front of the door to the Headmaster's office. Without hesitating he opened the door and walked in, slamming it behind him.

"I had hoped not to see you in here again, Mr. Pevensie"

"Well, you obviously gave your hope to the wrong person" Edmund replied curtly, standing in front of the desk and looking into the eyes of the man in front of him. He was a fairly old Headmaster, his hair beginning to thin out and turn grey, but he was still as strong as hell. He said to the boy, "You know the score by now, Pevensie. Bend over."

Edmund calmly knelt over his chair and tried to get into a state of relaxation. However, he suddenly remembered the last time someone had beaten him like this, and the recollection of that memory froze his heart.

_Jadis._

He heard a large **THWACK! **And in a few seconds he felt a sudden rush of searing pain fill his entire body. He rasped in pain, _NoNoNo..._

_He was trapped, chained, suffocated by the freezing ice that surrounded the cell where he lay. And she was there, gloating, laughing…_

_No, you're not real…_

_She hit him again, making his bones shatter and his sweat freeze against his skin. He could hear her joy, felt his pale and fragile body being lifted up and turned so that he saw the ice within her eyes, her soul…_

_You can never escape me…I will always be alive in your mind, silly boy…_

**NO!**

Edmund woke up, almost hitting his head against the ceiling. He was confused and disorientated; he was in the school infirmary and he could see that his back was bandaged up. How the hell had he ended up here?

"Ed!" The boy turned to see Peter enter the infirmary and run towards his little brother, embracing him. "Thank Goodness you're alright! I'm afraid we missed the train back to Finchley, but I got us tickets for the 5:00 today…" He let go for a moment and looked at Edmund quizzically, "Are you ok?"

"I feel fine Pete, but what on earth happened?" Peter seemed to hesitate at that question. "Pete?" Edmund asked his brother worriedly. Peter sighed and sat down, laying a hand on his brother's knee.

"I was sent for at the end of P.E by the Headmaster himself, who was extremely rattled, I can tell you that. He told me that you had been sent to him…" At this point Peter attempted a disapproving look that made Edmund smirk, "and that he had started to punish you when…when…"

"What?" said Edmund, who was now very worried; Peter moved his hand to his shoulder and whispered, "He said you started talking to someone who wasn't there, you started screaming. He tried to calm you but you freaked and started hitting and kicking him, and then suddenly you passed out. He thought you were possessed, Ed. He recommended a bloody exorcism."

Edmund's blood grew cold as he listened to his brother's story and began to remember what had happened in the office that day. But it wasn't memories of hurting his Headmaster that came to mind, it was someone else entirely…

That was when Peter said, "You saw her again, didn't you?"

Edmund found that he was suddenly unable to breathe, and he choked back a sob of fear as he nodded, letting his head fall into his brother's neck, because he knew that only Peter would understand, only Peter…

He heard his brother whisper softly into his ear, "_I will never let anyone hurt you ever again, Ed" _as he caressed him, and he smiled.

_"I Know Peter, I Know"_


	2. What Happened To Last Summer?

**A/N: Hi FanFiction Readers! To be completely honest with you when I first posted Seeing Shadows I had no intention of trying to extend it, but after only a few days this story got so many more views than I expected (over 100!) and such positive feedback that I just had to carry it on :) This chapter doesn't include as much action as the last one did so im sorry, but there's a lot of Edmund angst (we all love a bit of that) and I plan to include a lot more excitement as the story continues. Enjoy!**

Warning: This chapter (and only this chapter) may contain hints of implied racism by some of the characters and minor offensive language. This isn't my own personal view. Better safe than sorry.

Disclaimer: Seriously, the only thing I own is the plot to this story, and a certain treacherous Archenlander who will get mentioned at some point...

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Edmund heaved a great sigh as they boarded the train that would take them back to Finchley. Peter turned and gave his brother a questioning look, to which his dark haired sibling shrugged and blamed his current condition on fatigue. In truth, however, Edmund knew that when he got back home he would have to face his sisters, who he knew would be frantically worrying about what had happened. He hated it when everyone was fussing over him; he knew that after what he had done to them he didn't deserve it, no matter how long it had been or how many times they had tried to convince him that he had been forgiven. He knew that he had betrayed them all, and so he alone had to deal with the consequences.

"For God's sake stop being so melancholy, Ed!" Peter laughed, and they sat down in an empty compartment as the train jolted and began to leave the station. "I know that Susan and Lucy are going to be right pains when we get back, but it's only because they're worried about you."

"Of course." His brother smiled back at him. Only Peter would have guessed what was bothering him. "I just know that I'm not really worthy of all that fuss."

Peter pulled his brother closer to him and gave him a fierce look of determination. "Edmund James Pevensie," he began, "how many times do I have to tell you? Aslan forgives you. We all forgive you. You just need to forgive yourself. Dwelling on who you used to be isn't going to help who you are now." "Besides," Peter continued, "We've all done stupid things at some point. Susan was moody and possessive, Lucy used to be naïve and put her faith in the wrong people (remember that treacherous Archenlander from our Golden Age?), and I was angry and ignored my little brother, which in turn made him angry at me."

Edmund swore he saw a slight pang of guilt and resentment pass over his brother's eyes, but then it was gone and Peter said, "I think it's best if we stop talking about this for the rest of the journey."

Edmund nodded, and started grinning. "Remember when we were younger? You used to have to get me sweets to eat on the train to stop me from yelling and screaming for Father."

"I remember! You were a right little sap back then, weren't you Eddykins?" his brother retorted as he grabbed his younger brother's hair, ruffling it like he was a toddler before Edmund pulled away, laughing. "Would you like me to get you some now, diddum's'?" Peter simpered in a babyish voice. "Yeah, sure Pete," Edmund smirked as Peter lunged torwards him, attempting to give him a hug, "Seriously, Knock it off!"

"Killjoy" Peter murmured as he got up and opened the door, although Edmund could blatantly see the amusement on his face, "Usually I would get you Turkish delight, but since that's permanently off the menu…" "Just get me Hershey's or some Liquorice, please," his brother answered as Peter left the compartment and headed for the food carriage. He laughed again as he remembered how much fun he used to have with his brother and lay back on his seat, the memories floating back as if from a dream. Why had they not done this for such a long time? He had loved it when he was younger, loved it until…

Edmund realised then when it had all changed; it had started slowly, when Father had decided to join the Army and was summoned to fight in France only a few days later. He had been very close to his two boys, and leaving them was the hardest thing he had ever done. So the day he had to leave, he summoned both Peter and Edmund to his study and said to them "Look after your sisters, children. Peter, I leave you in charge of this family. And above all, let no one come between you." What he didn't understand, however, was that only a few days later his two sons would be completely torn apart.

It was the other boys at school who had changed him. Edmund started at Hendon House the day after his Father had left, and as soon as he entered that cursed place, the other boys saw him and decided to destroy him. They were everywhere, always watching; they would push him when he walked to lessons, punch him and shout abuse and torment. They chose him not because of how he acted but because of his skin, his hair, and his eyes. They called him bastard, illegitimate, a mistake. They even dared to insult his own Father; the man who had always told his son proudly of his Lebanese roots and how he had given him his Grandmother's hazelnut eyes, and who was unknowingly tossed in the dirt by a group of adolescent boys.

What had hurt Edmund most was that for the first time in his life, Peter didn't come to the rescue. When he was being beaten or tormented, he would always see Peter at the edge of the crowd, talking to his friends and trying to act as if nothing had happened. He had it so easy; with his fair hair and blue eyes no one could have guessed that he was even related to Edmund and so he kept it that way, ignoring him both at school and even on the train home until they met up with Lucy and Susan near St. Finbars.

So Edmund had grown distant. He began to talk less and less to his other siblings, and the only time he did they argued or yelled at each other. He joined the gang of boys that had been so cruel to him and bullied other kids, even going so far as to bully his own little sister, Lucy, to the point of tears. But he hadn't understood. It was because he had been so used to his brother being the strong one, the best friend that he had always relied on to stand up for him, that he hadn't noticed.

Peter had been afraid. The amount of pressure that had been handed over to him by Father was too much to bear, and he was disappointed that he had not been able to protect his only brother, the one thing that he was supposed to do. This made him hurt, and angry.

Edmund only knew this because it was the first thing Peter said when they were alone together, after Oreius and his troops had rescued him from the Witch's camp. He had wanted his little brother to understand for the first time in 12 months, and so he had told him everything. It was then that Peter had made a pact with him, to protect him at all costs, no matter what. It had seemed a harmless thing at the time, but as soon as Edmund was stabbed by the Witch at the First Battle of Beruna, all of that had changed.

Peter had become a monster; hurt and angry, he had slaughtered and murdered half of the evil creatures that fought on her side, and it was only by the coming of Aslan and his brother's wound being cured that he had stopped. But since then, Edmund had been scared that one day something like that would happen again, even when they eventually returned home, and that his brother in his rage would do something dreadful and he would be powerless to stop him.

That was why the night they returned to England, Edmund silently crept out of his bed to the window and made a silent pact between him and the night sky. On no account could he ever forget what had nearly happened at Beruna, and at all costs he should stay out of trouble. He knew that if one of the other boys hurt him again they would probably regret it. That wasn't a good thing. He had seen Peter kill before, and he still wasn't sure that he wouldn't kill again.

That was why he had to figure out what had happened back in the Headmaster's office and why he had seen her again for the first time in 15 years, before something bad happened. And as he gazed out of the window and watched his brother's reflection enter the compartment and hand him a Catherine wheel, he knew that however she had managed to possess him, it could mean only one thing.

She was trying to get revenge. The Pevensie children were in danger.

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**So, what do you think so far? Has the Witch somehow returned? Are the Pevensies in danger?And is the "treacherous Archenlander" even relevant to the story? We'll just have to wait and see! Btw, for those of you who are wondering, I got the idea of Edmund's dad being half Lebanese from actor Skandar Keynes' own ancestry. Don't blame me if it isn't historically accurate, i'm just an amateur :'( R&R if you can please, and if anyone knows how I can get this into a "Community" PM me; i'm still new to this!**


	3. Peter's Nightmare

**A/N: Hello again, dear Readers! I've been loving the reviews and follows that I get for this fanfic: the amount of visitors ****_Seeing Shadows _****got when I added the second chapter was mindblowing! :) Anyways, this chapter is very Petercentric (sorry Edmund fans!) and we introduce the Pevensie sisters as well (finally) so sit back and enjoy!**

Disclaimer: Do I look like C. to you?!

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"Hello! We're home!"

"Edmund! You're back at last!"

The dark haired boy laughed, watching his energetic younger sister come bounding down the stairs as he entered the front door. Lucy hugged him as tightly as she could, leaving a bemused Peter to lock up after himself. She was soon followed by Susan Pevensie, who unlike her sister walked from the living room with a slight grace and ease, such as was expected from a girl her age. Lucy, however, had forgotten all about etiquette and was now embracing her elder brother as well, kissing him as if it had been years since they had last met.

"Calm down Lu, you only saw them a few weeks ago!" said Susan, trying to hide the amusement on her face at her sister's antics. She then turned and hugged her younger brother, and said quietly to all of them as she did so, "Mother's already asleep, so you'll have to say hello to her tomorrow. She was so worried when she heard the news about Edmund." She looked at her brother with a frantic curiousness, "What happened, exactly?"

"Ed just had a serious case of work related stress, that's all." Peter interjected just as his brother was about to speak, "Nothing to worry about. Anyways, it's getting late; the four of us should probably go to bed."

"Aww Peter! Do we have to?" Lucy bawled childishly as she let her brother take her by the hand and lead her upstairs. Out of the corner of his eye, Peter saw Edmund give him a look, as if to say "Why did you lie to them?", but he averted his gaze and carried on walking up the stairs. After all, he didn't want to get Lucy (or Susan, especially) worked up about what was probably just one of Edmund's funny turns. He remembered how his brother used to get them a lot when he was King in the Golden Age; why they had started to happen to him again Peter didn't know, but one thing he was sure of was that they were nothing to worry about. Besides, all he wanted to do was get some sleep. All this could wait until the morning.

_Peter slowly opened his eyes and looked around him. He was sitting carelessly against a tall rough stick of timber, which from what he could see had been shoved into the dirt beneath him. He tried to move his arms, but realised that they had been tied behind his back, binding him to the wood which held him captive. His frightened eyes scanned the dark cave where he sat, but all he could see before him were shadows. _

_"Hello?" he spoke nervously, but no one answered. He began to panic; where on earth was he? The last thing Peter could remember was arriving back home with his brother, having to endure Susan's endless nagging… Had something happened to them? Was the rest of his family safe?_

_He heard the sound of a rock being kicked, and saw a shape emerge from the darkness which surrounded him. He watched as the woman, who he could now just see in the dim light, struck a match and lit a lone candle which had stood unnoticed by the boy's feet. His eye's burnt at the sudden light hitting his retina, and he had to blink for a few moments before turning back to look at his captor. He gasped in horror._

_"Did you miss me, Son of Adam?"_

_It couldn't be possible: he had seen her dead, killed by Aslan's own hand, and yet here she was standing in front of him, her face distorted with a grotesque smirk. He violently pulled at the ropes behind him, but they were tied too tight for him to break free._

_"Come now Peter dear, there's no need for that…" she smiled as she watched him struggle, and she set herself down beside the boy, "After all, we're just old friends."_

_"I still remember what you did to my brother, Witch!" Peter tried to sound menacing as he returned her glare. _

_"Ahh, you mean Edmund…" She smirked at his defiance and continued, "Such a handsome young boy."_

_"What have you done with him?" Peter tried again to release his hands and he felt his fingers fall upon something smooth, and sharp. It was his penknife! Trying not to avert his gaze from the Witch, he managed to pick the knife up and began to cut through his bonds. "You'd better not have hurt him!"_

_"He's fine, for the time being…" she said quietly, her voice cutting through the air like ice. She looked at the eldest Pevensie, and she whispered, "How about we make a deal, Peter? Join me, and none of your pathetic little family will get hurt. It'll just be us two, you'd like that…" She moved closer to him to stroke the hair out of his eyes, but as she did so he cut through the last of his bonds and jumped up, pushing her over onto the floor and raising the penknife above his head. If he aimed for her heart, he might be able to stab hard enough to kill her. "I will never join you!" he yelled._

_He swung forward to deal the blow, and as he did so he swore he heard her say, "I wouldn't be so sure of that, Peter dear…"_

**"Peter stop!"**

The blond haired boy snapped awake to see Edmund lying below him, his face wide with fear. What the hell had just happened? The cave was gone; Peter could now see that he was back in his bedroom that he shared with his younger brother. All of what had just happened must have been nothing but a dream, but if that was the case, then how had he woken up sitting on Edmund's bed, instead of sleeping in his own?

"Peter, drop the knife" Edmund stammered, reaching out to tear something from his brother's grip, and Peter whimpered as he saw the steak knife that he had been about to stab his brother with fall from his grasp. What had he just done?

He fell forward onto Edmund's bed and began sobbing uncontrollably into his brother's pillow. Edmund stiffened; he had never seen his older brother so vulnerable before, and so he tried his best to comfort him. He decided to do what he remembered his father used to do when he got hurt playing football in the park: he sat up and moved Peter's head onto his shoulders, whispering into his ear, "Shush, it's okay, everything's going to be fine…" After what had seemed almost the entire night Peter finally calmed down, and he told his brother what he had seen.

"What do you think's happening to us, Ed?" he whimpered, sending shivers down his brother's spine at the sound of his fear, "Has she really come back?"

Edmund, being the only one of the two who had read a number of supernatural and cult stories, said shakily, "I don't think she's physically returned. Otherwise she would've already tried to attack us" His brother nodded in agreement. "Somehow though, from wherever people like her go where they die, she's found a way to control us, to make us do her bidding without us knowing…" He stuttered, the fear returning to him, before meeting Peter's gaze, "I mean, if I hadn't woken up, well, you were really going to kill me Pete, I saw it in your eyes…"

"She's definitely getting stronger, whatever she's doing." Peter interrupted, "When she got to you back at Hendon House, you went completely nuts but she couldn't control you, you were just afraid."

"I know" Edmund answered, his face twisted in concentration. He suddenly stood up and switched on the bedroom lights. Flashes of colour blurred Peter's vision as he asked, "What the hell are you doing? It's probably still 12 o'clock at night!"

His brother picked up the steak knife and headed to the door. "I think it's time we told Susan and Lucy what's been going on."

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**Ooh, drama! Will they get to Susan and Lucy in time? Or will Jadis get to them first? Find out next time!**


	4. Mischief, Musings and Missing

**A/N: Hello again, Readers! I get so much positive feedback from this story, so don't stop! It helps me hopefully to be a better writer so keep the reviews coming! :) For fans of Susan Pevensie you are going to love this chapter, but there's still quite a lot of Edmund and Peter too. Enjoy!**

Disclaimer: I do not own Narnia or any of the characters except my own. Boy, how much I would give to own Peter or Edmund Pevensie :) ... ahem anyway, carrying on...

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**_An extract from "A History of Narnia" written and bound during the illustrious Golden Age of our High Kings and Queens, by their royal advisor and most trusted companion Tumnus, the faun:_**

_In the dead of winter of the year 1013 (the thirteenth year of our High King and his King and Queen's glorious reign) there came unto those four chosen of Aslan a young man, torn and bleeding from his travels. He told our noble king Peter the Magnificent that he had once been the son of a rich and very powerful Duke who had owned a small fort on the outskirts of our neighbouring Archenland, but through a number of great misfortunes leading up to his father's death, he had been pronounced illegitimate by his own subjects and banished from his province. On hearing his story our Kings and Queens welcomed him into our court with open arms, and it was there he stayed, for a time._

_ It soon became clear to all at court that the young man soon became somewhat infatuated with our Royal Highness Queen Lucy the Valiant, and that our grace returned his feelings. On realising this young man proposed to her, and gained the respect and love of her royal siblings. They were to be married in the thaw before spring, to symbolise the time that our beloved kings and queens seized the throne from the usurper Jadis, the White Witch. Little did our gracious rulers realise, however, that this wedding was not meant to be, for the Ice had not yet thawed in some people's hearts…_

Earlier that night:

Susan Pevensie smiled as her elder brother led Lucy towards her room. Although she didn't often show it, she liked it when her family were this close; it reminded her even more of Narnia, and how they had ruled there for so long. She often worried that with all her friends and parties she had here in England, she would forget all about it, and she never ever wanted to do that. Narnia had been her soul and her life and she couldn't wait until they could go back, but sometimes, when times had been bad or she had got so caught up in her own social life that she had forgotten even for a moment about her siblings, she swore she felt a thread of memory fall from her mind, and it scared her. It made her more desperate to hold on Narnia, and although she knew that she wasn't Magnificent or Valiant, and not even Just, she was never going to let go, because she was Queen Susan the Gentle.

She turned round to smile at Edmund, who had been following her up the stairs, and thought how much he had grown up since they had come back. Of course she had seen him grow up once before, but for some reason it felt a lot different seeing him here in England. She could never figure out if it was a good or bad difference, but all she could tell was that he was definitely a lot more sullen and laid back than he had been in Narnia. Perhaps it was the absence of his best friend Philip, or even General Oreius, which had brought this on, but Susan could tell that there was something a lot darker about her younger brother, as if he always knew more than he let on.

"Lucy, you're going to have to go with Susan back to your own room now!" she heard Peter laugh as she watched him struggle to walk into his bedroom with Lucy in a death grip around his leg. He pathetically tried to kick her off, which only resulted in her hugging him harder. "Su, help me!" he begged, trying to morph the glee on his face into mocking terror. His sister laughed as she picked Lucy off his body, making her squeal and jump from her grasp, running into the next bedroom. Susan smirked and said to her brothers,  
"See you tomorrow," before walking into the girl's shared bedroom, where amazingly Lucy had already managed to get into bed and was now falling asleep.

"Goodnight Susan," was all she was able to say before she began to snore quietly against the pillow. Her older sister waited for a few moments, before getting herself ready for bed. Just as she was about to turn out the light, she walked over to the window and, as she always did, gazed out onto the night sky, and wondered if either the Emperor-over-the-sea or even Aslan himself was staring back at her. She paused for a while, then slowly pulled the curtains closed and went to bed, her last thoughts as she fell asleep being those of Narnia, and returning someday.

Unlike most nights, as the Gentle Queen went back to bed it didn't occur to her to shut the window itself.

Now:

Edmund rushed into his sister's room, followed closely behind by a groggy and slightly bemused Peter. He quickly switched on the lights, causing Susan Pevensie to sit up and look at her brothers with an annoyed frown. "Ed what's wrong?" she muttered as the brothers entered and ran over to her, both of their faces concerned. They began to calm down as soon as they saw that their sister was alright, and Peter sat down beside her.

"Listen Susan we don't have much time to explain," Peter began as Edmund made his way across the room to Lucy's bed to wake her up, "As soon as Ed gets Lucy to wake up we'll tell you the whole story, but for now all you have to know is that the White Witch is back! Now there's no need to panic, as soon as…" he trailed off as he saw Edmund whip off the duvet of Lucy's bed, only to reveal a few pillows and her teddy bear. They stared for a moment, and then panicked.

"Lucy!" Edmund gasped as he dropped the duvet, his eyes scanning the room frantically as if he expected his little sister to pop out of nowhere, telling them that she was alright, but there was no one. He suddenly saw out of the corner of his eye the tell-tale flapping of the curtains, and running over to them he ripped them apart to reveal the open window and the front garden below, where he saw the muddy footprints leading out of the shrubbery, which had been crushed due to a large weight using it to break their fall, and over their fence into the streets of Finchley itself.

Lucy was nowhere to be seen.

Edmund felt Peter push beside him as he looked out of the window and came to the same realisation that was now slowly forming in the dark haired boy's mind. He turned to his brother and trembled, "The Witch took Lucy. Oh my God," before he sank down onto the window pane in despair.

"Hello! Can somebody please tell me what's going on here?" Susan screeched from behind them, walking over to the window where Edmund turned around, stopping her. "Susan, calm down and listen. What would you say if I told you that the White Witch has started to take over our minds and make us do thing without realising, and she may have just possessed Lucy and taken her on some weird tour of London?" he answered. Susan looked at him wildly, and then began to scream.

"Shut up! Do you want Mother to wake up and realise what's happened?" Peter hissed, shoving his hand over Susan's mouth to stop her from yelling. She froze in fear, then cooled down and removed her brother's palm.

"Well what do you propose we do then? Call the police and tell them to look out for a girl who is most likely possessed by a Witch?" she said sarcastically, staring at Peter and waiting for him to take charge like he used to in Narnia.

"There's only one thing we can do." The two older siblings looked startled at the voice and spun round to find Edmund, who was standing by the window again, "We need to follow her."

"Are you nuts? We don't know where she's going, or who's going to be there when she arrives. It's too dangerous." Peter argued as his brother walked past them. He ran through the bedroom door and down the stairs, grabbing his coat and waiting as his elder brother and sister appeared from the bedroom, regarding him with a joint scowl. "Oh come on!" Edmund whined, "We have the footprints! Besides, even you have to admit that we're pretty much alone in this."

"I don't know why I'm going with this, but you do have a point," Susan was the first to break, walking down the stairs and catching the coat that Edmund unceremoniously threw in her direction. They slowly slipped their shoes on and opened the front door, turning back to look at their older brother.

"Coming Pete?"

"Alright then," he sighed before rushing down the stairs and grabbing his coat, following his two younger siblings out of the house and into the outside world, where they had no idea what, or who, was waiting for them.

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**So, what did you think? The first bit at the beginning was relatively new, so do you think it added to the story? All will become clear about how it links in with the story in later chapters. But for now, thanks for reading so far and review if you can!**

**Btw: For those of you who have noticed, I've recently had to update this chapter, as someone pointed out to me that I had got the timeline completely wrong x( and so originally Lucy would've only been 10 years old. Needless to say, i've changed the date so she should be in about her 20's in the first bit. Will have to remember to check facts next time.**


	5. Following Footsteps

**A/N: Hello again dear readers! We are finally up to chapter five of ****_Seeing Shadows _****(gasp!) and there is still so much more to come, so keep on reading as much as you have been doing already because I still can't believe how many people read this :) This chapter contains a lot of Edmund finally being the one leading everyone about (you can guess I'm a huge fan of Edmund!) and a lot of "boys being boys" if you know what I mean! It also contains some more Narnia History extracts (trust me, you'll understand why they're there soon.)**

**I also want to use this as an opportunity to promote my other ongoing Narnia multichap fanfiction ****_Lying in Wait, _****which is an AU set in Movieverse Prince Caspian where Edmund is captured during the raid in Miraz's castle. The first chapter is already up and it promises to be very Edmundcentric, so if you're into that sort of thing please do read it!**

**Anyways, as usual enjoy the story!**

Disclaimer: The only thing I own related to either the Narnia books or the films is a huge obsession with them...

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**_Extract from "A History of Narnia" written and bound during the illustrious Golden Age of our High Kings and Queens, by their royal advisor and most trusted companion Tumnus, the faun:_**

_On the night of the annual Midwinter Ball of 1013, our noble kings and queens rejoiced like they did every year as they celebrated with their loyal subjects the eventual coming of spring, and the upcoming wedding that would follow. The lucky man himself and his bride, Queen Lucy, were the stars of the party, and were dancing together for most of the night. It couldn't have been a happier time for the chosen Kings and Queens._

_However, amidst the joy and happiness of the festive season there came unto the great hall a loud cry of pain which came from the midst of the room, where it was seen by all present that the Valiant Queen Lucy suddenly fell from her lover's arms like a marionette cut from the string._

_The High King instantly rushed to her aid as her fiancée wept over her unconscious body, but it soon became evident that the queen would not awaken from her slumber. She was taken that very night to the palace healers, where they gave her a dose of her own cordial to try and revive her, but to no avail. It soon became apparent that she was the victim of a great and powerful curse, for although she was not dead she was caught in a deep and enchanted sleep from which she refused to wake._

_The kingdom was bound in sorrow from that day forth; both the queen's betrothed and her brothers King Peter the Magnificent and King Edmund the Just set off on numerous quests to exotic places as far as they knew existed, but from Ettinsmoor to Calormen, and from the Lantern Waste to the Eastern Sea, not one cure was to be found. The court prayed for the return of Aslan so that he may save the queen, but Aslan did not come. So the days and months passed by, the Narnians shallow in fear for the growing insanity of their monarchy and for their own welfare, until finally the next winter rolled into the land of Narnia, and with it a cold and bitter wind that chilled the very souls of the Narnian people…_

Edmund Pevensie shivered as he fought against the strong London breeze that hit him like a brick wall as the late night cabs drove past his shivering form. He looked at his watch; it was now half past one, which meant that they had exactly six hours to find Lucy and get back home before anyone realised that they were missing. He mentally face palmed himself for not taking this into consideration; his plan wasn't looking so clever after all. He knew that if his Mother woke up to find all four of her children were missing she would almost definitely call the police, which would make finding his sister even more awkward. He just had to hope that Lucy hadn't got too far, or this could take a lot longer than he expected.

He saw a glimpse of Peter and Susan over the other side of the road, both madly trying to get his attention. He waited for the traffic to ease a little and ran across to them, thinking to himself as he did so that he must try to hurry them up a bit more. He gasped slightly as he reached them and realised how much sleep he was missing out on. His brother tried desperately to tell him something but he was panting heavily, and so Susan had to speak instead.

"The footprints lead into the Underground." Edmund had sent the older Pevensies on a scout for more clues as to where their sister was, and it seemed that Susan at least had come back with some very useful information, "At first we thought she had been forced onto a train or something (Peter talked to the ticket seller, but he hadn't seen her) but I found out that she wasn't. Follow me." Susan Pevensie turned back down the stairs leading to the train station, and her brothers followed, even though Edmund was still unsure about what his sister meant.

They followed the small trail of muddy footprints which Lucy had left unintentionally for them, avoiding as they did so the drunk students and other partygoers that were exiting the station at the same time. Susan caught the attention of a couple of unruly lads as she passed, and the leader of the group (who the siblings could see was completely wasted) yelled drunkenly, "Hey there gorgeous! Fancy ditching Blondie and Spider and coming home with us?" Edmund grabbed Peter's wrist as he saw his brother flinch, knowing how much his die hard sibling would want to confront them, and stopped him with a glare. Susan merely sighed and ignored the boys, urging her overprotective brothers forward.

They went deeper and deeper into the station, running down numerous flights of stairs, and carried on walking until they reached the ticket booth, where Susan swerved sharply to the left and Edmund had to quickly dodge the passengers coming the other way in order to follow. He glanced down at the floor and saw that the footprints now led them down a small abandoned corridor and into a room. As they walked closer Edmund could now see it was plated with a faded plaque reading _Women's Lavatory. _He heard Peter protest behind him.

"Jesus Christ, Su! You expect me and Ed to follow you into the girl's toilets?"

"Oh pull yourself together, they're just toilets!" Susan retorted, to which Peter gave her an exasperated look and backed even further away from the door. Edmund rolled his eyes at his brother's embarrassment; it was a sure sign that they hung out with boys way too often. Still, he didn't dare to enter either. What if there was a girl in there doing, well, something…? The thought made his cheeks turn bright red, and he quickly turned his head to avoid Peter noticing.

Susan growled angrily at the two of them and, as if she knew what they were worried about, slammed the door open and yelled, "Hello, anyone in there?" There was nothing but silence.

She turned to her elder brother and smiled sarcastically at him. "See, its fine. Grow up!" Peter chuckled nervously but still hesitated, leaving a frustrated Edmund to push past him and follow his sister as she walked inside. The magnificent king blushed at the thought of being seen in a girl's toilet, but he knew that he had to do this to save Lucy and so he entered after them, his stomach sinking as he noticed the absence of urinals.

"Girls have been in here…and they've done girl stuff…"

"I know what you're thinking Pete, so stop it. You're making me feel sick" his younger brother grimaced, before turning to his older sister, "Okay, what now Susan?"

"Well that's just it. This is where the trail stops!"

She was right. All three Pevensies could see that the string of muddy footprints led right up to one of the sinks along the bathroom wall, and then just stopped suddenly, as if she had just stood there all this time. There were no windows in the room, or anywhere she could've escaped from, so where had she gone? It was as if she had vanished into thin air. The Pevensie siblings stared almost helplessly at the spot where they knew their sister had once been, Edmund all the while aware that precious time was slipping fast through their fingers. After what seemed like an eternity, Peter spoke up.

"Do you think the White Witch gave her teleportation powers or something?"

"Peter that's stupid," Edmund muttered, and tried to shrug it off when Peter turned and glared at him, "The Witch can't teleport, or she wouldn't have had to ride about in her sleigh all the time would she?"

"Then how do you explain Lucy suddenly disappearing off the face of the Earth?"

"There must be something we've missed…" the dark haired youth suddenly jumped forward and stood directly in his sister's footprints. He began to feel around the wall, touching everything that he knew would have been within his sister's reach, and then he knelt down and began scaling his hands around the back of the sink, trying to pull and push at everything he could get his hands on. Everything seemed to be ordinary…everything except…

"Ed, what are you looking for?"

His fist knocked against a long steel pole that he could tell was out of place from the dull metals that made up the tubes at the back of the sink. He tugged at it, and to his delight it moved towards him. He kept pulling at it until he heard from deep within the wall a great clunk! And so he let go and took a step back as the sink and a good chunk of wall grinded backwards, revealing behind it a long hidden passageway, where the siblings could now see that the long line of irregular muddy boot prints continued.

"Secret Door," the youth answered as he squirmed his way past the sink and into the corridor, Peter and Susan looking bemusedly after him as they too wriggled through the gap.

"How did you know?" Peter asked his brother as they finally joined him.

"Let's just say that was why I was in charge of battle strategy in Narnia, and you weren't."

"Are you saying I'm dumb?"

Edmund could just about make out his brother's cocky smirk in the dim light of the passageway and he laughed, turning back around again to continue on walking. What he didn't notice, however, was his brother's smile falter as he noticed the dark shadow looming behind him.

"Ed, Look out!"

A long greasy hand shot out of nowhere and covered Edmund's mouth before he had a chance to scream. His eyes widened in horror as he saw the same fate befall his two siblings, who were also attacked from behind and restrained, both of them shaking violently and trying to escape.

He heard a voice from behind him, and realised that it came from his captor.

"You know what to do with them. I'll take the boy."

"Edmund, **No!"**

He heard his brother yell and saw him try to struggle free from the man who held him. The captor behind him suddenly shoved what appeared to be a white handkerchief against the youth's face, forcing him to breathe in the foul smelling toxin which it was coated in. Edmund gasped for air, and he felt his conscious mind fail him and his vision blurred as he fell to the floor. The last things he knew and heard were Peter's wails and a cold, but somehow strangely familiar voice, laughing in his ears.

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**What do you think of chapter five? Who cursed Lucy in Narnia and how will she wake? How does the Narnian History have anything to do with the story? And what the hell is happening to the Pevensies now? Keep reading to find out!**


	6. The Revenge Part 1

**A/N: Hi again, dear Readers! I'm sorry that it took me so long to update this story, but due to a "very smart" idea I had a few weeks ago I am now having to juggle with updating three ongoing multichapter fanfics, which sucks to say the least (Btw, for those of you who have read/commmented on my other Narnian story ****_Lying in Wait_**** thank you so much!). I'll try to make it my goal to do chapters once a week if I can. Anyways, I've finally managed to update now, which is great! :)**

**In terms of length, although this chapter is very large words-wise, it doesn't move as far through the plot as the other chapters did (one of the reasons it's called Part 1), but hopefully it will make up for that by being so well written (I hope!)It also contains the last of the "Narnia extracts", but it's at the end instead of the beginning, and you will see why as you read. I hope you enjoy, and R&R if you can!**

Disclaimer: Sadly, I don't own anything mentioned in the story, and I don't make money off it either. Sob!Sob! :'(

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"Hello?"

Edmund Pevensie had now regained consciousness and was gazing frantically into the darkness that enveloped him. He was tied down onto a chair in the middle of a long room. From what he could see was paved with gratings and covered in a decade's worth of slime and muck, which meant that he was still concealed somewhere in the Underground. He could hear above him a low rumble as a train passed overhead, and wondered for the first time whereabouts he was. Had the passageway they had been travelling down lead to some sort of undiscovered gap beneath the railing? At that thought he realised with horror that he had no idea what had happened to Susan or Peter when they had been ambushed by those men, and in a frightened panic struggled madly against his bonds. He cried out in pain as he felt his wrists draw blood. The chicken wire that had been wrapped crudely around them cut into his flesh. "Is there anybody there?" he yelled as he tried once again to free his hands.

A bright light was suddenly switched on, causing Edmund to quickly screw his eyes shut. He opened them after a few seconds and gasped. He could now see that he was trapped in was a small hovel, with walls made up of cheap red brick and covered in engine wire for the vehicles above, proving that he was in some sort of an empty basement area below. However, there was no doubt that this place had only recently been occupied. There were a number of beer bottles and scattered piles of broken glass around the room; a table where he could see smoke rising from an ashtray that had only recently been used; coats and tins of food lying in a corner; and in the very centre of the room lay the unconscious body of a blond haired boy, someone who as Edmund looked closer, was horribly familiar…

"Oh My God. Peter." He breathed as his body shook, realising that his brother wasn't moving. He couldn't see any blood, but the dark haired King knew more than anyone that there were other ways of killing a human being than impaling them. He waited impatiently for his brother to move, to speak to him, anything, but he stayed still. Edmund's face contorted in fear as he tried to hold in his anguish, but it burst out of him and he screamed, **"Peter!"**

"He's not dead, you know."

The Just King turned to see a tall, dishevelled figure walk from behind him and into view. He was dressed in dirty, discoloured clothes that were far too short for him; his bony elbow protruded through his short sleeved shirt and his knees poked out from holes in his trousers, where they had worn through, and Edmund could see to his disgust that they were grubby and caked with dirt. The boy recognised from his voice that he was the same man who had captured him and who for some reason he had recognised but his captor wore a cheap woollen hat, cut into so that he could see, over his head to hide his face. If he had seen him anywhere else, Edmund would have mistaken him for a tramp, but here he could only tell that it was this man that lived in the room he was now being held in, and that for whatever reason he was responsible for kidnapping him and Peter.

The man approached him, making him retch as the putrid smell from his unwashed clothes hit him. He smiled, revealing a nasty array of rotten teeth.

"Now what were you and your family doing snooping around, Edmund Pevensie?"

"How the hell do you know my name?" The boy shrank away as his captor leered at him, and kneeled closer until he was practically breathing into his face.

"Do you not recognise me?"

"No!" Edmund managed to shuffle his chair further away from the tramp, causing the stranger to stand up and give him an almost quizzical look as he trembled, "Where's Susan and Lucy? And what have you done with my brother?"

"Oh, handsome here?" The man laughed, roughly kicking Peter's face with his foot and causing Edmund to struggle angrily as he did so, "He's just asleep. You know, I'm really upset that you don't remember who I am, Edmund. I used to be one of you closest friends after all."

"You're lying!" the King sat still, glaring at his captor venomously, "I would never trust anyone as foul as you!"

His captor laughed, and said, "Spoken exactly like a King of Narnia."

Edmund mouth fell open at the mention of the Pevensie's greatest secret. How had this tramp known? He knew for a fact that even if what the masked man had claimed was true, he had never revealed to anyone he knew in England that he had been to another world, which could only mean…

"You're not from England, are you?"

The stranger grinned, "I knew you would figure it out eventually. After all, if the four High Kings and Queens accidently stumbled through a portal back to their own planet, let's just say that a Narnian could easily have followed them."

"Wait, you followed us?" Edmund muttered as he tried to think back to when they had fallen back out of the wardrobe after leaving Narnia. They had left the Spare room with the Professor; was it possible that only a few seconds afterwards, someone had snuck out after them and left the house without anyone realising? It had to be a mistake. As if the man understood his confusion, he answered.

"Yes, Edmund, I did. I followed all of you, so that it would be possible for me to fulfil my purpose, away from the protection of Aslan and in a place where you would only be four helpless children, in a world unfortunately far too inexperienced to help you."

The man stared coldly at Edmund, sending chills through his spine.

"Do you know what purpose I am talking about?"

"How should I?"

The stranger grinned evilly and reached for his hat, tugging at it from the hop of his head. With one smooth pull, he removed it from his face.

"I want revenge." That was all he said.

Edmund gasped. He now knew that he hadn't wanted to believe it when he recognised his voice, but that face! His slightly dark complexion, long black hair that had gotten greasy and grown longer since he had last seen him, but failing to cover his unmistakeable grey eyes…

It was Jareth.

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**_Extract from "A History of Narnia" written and bound during the illustrious Golden Age of our High Kings and Queens, by their royal advisor and most trusted companion Tumnus, the faun:_**

_It was King Edmund the Just who first discovered the traitor. On a cold winter's night, so frozen that even the moles shivered in their warm underground homes, the King became concerned for his sleeping sister, and so he crept silently to her room with the notion of providing her with a few blankets to keep her alive. However, he reached the door to her room to find it unlocked, and left slightly unopen. So he looked through the crack and watched in silent anger as her lover, the man they had trusted with all their hearts, came torwards her lifeless body and whilst holding her lips open, administered a sinister silvery liquid into the Valiant Queen's mouth, thus rendering her asleep for a short time. It became quite clear to the King that he had been doing this for ever since that fateful night at the Ball in order to keep his beloved asleep, and whatever reason he had for doing it, it was with malicious intent._

_King Edmund burst into the room and took the queen's fiancée by surprise, knocking him down and pinning him whilst he called to his guards who reprimanded the traitor and dragged him to the dungeons. The Just King did not hesitate in alerting his brother High King Peter, and it was soon announced the next morning to the entire kingdom that the enchanter had been discovered, causing utter outrage as they realised that it was their soon to have been King._

_A few days after this, in the absence of the enchantment, the Queen Lucy awoke. Both the kingdom and her siblings rejoiced, but she did not remember anything that would have proved of her betrothed's treachery, and demanded to see him. On hearing this Peter the Magnificent decided that they would make the Archenlander stand trial against the noble court and Knights of Narnia, in order to piece together the truth from the lies. So it was decreed, and on the morning of the first day of that New Year 1015 that the betrayer stood before them, and to the horror of Queen Lucy proclaimed that he was guilty of all charges._

_It soon became clear that when he fled his own county after being banished, he came across Narnia under the rule of the Witch Jadis, and soon after joined her followers. She had discovered what had happened to him and so she tempted him with promises of marriage and power, until eventually he became her most trusted minion and would do anything for her. Eventually though she sent him and a small army away to the South and Calormen, in order to gain land and the trust of their leaders, and when they finally returned he was shocked to find that Jadis was dead and that the country was now ruled by the four chosen by Aslan in the prophecy._

_He had planned how to get her back, and he had done so by arriving at Cair Paravel and gaining the trust and eventual heart of one of our Queens, and then whilst she was dancing slipped the first draught of the spell into her wineglass, a spell that in exactly one year to the day would have enabled him and the last few of his followers to resurrect the soul of the White Witch and place it in the Queen's own body. The traitor boasted with glee that if they had succeeded it would have only been a few months before he would have smuggled in his grotesque circle of hags, werewolves and witches to perform the ceremony, and that the other three Kings and Queens wouldn't have stood a chance against their own sister._

_At this point the Valiant Queen herself, fraught with pain and disbelief, cried out that he should be killed, and the Knights rushed torwards him only to see him transform before their very eyes into a glistening White Stag and vanish into thin air. The Queen broke down and began to sob._

_The Council was in complete turmoil over this new development, and so after demanding for them to be silent, the High King said that he and his four siblings would go and hunt down the traitor, and that if anyone outside of the hall should enquire anything about it, we were to say that the enchanter had been executed and that the monarchy were hunting for an infamous magical creature who had the power to grant wishes. Reluctantly, the council agreed._

_The Pevensie family set off the next day, but none of them returned. Whether this was because they had been sent back to their own world, such as was the rumour throughout Narnia, or they had been killed by the Stag was unknown, but it was for a fact that both the White Stag and the treacherous Archenlander were never heard from again. Even his name, Jareth, is never spoken for it is considered a curse throughout all of Narnia._

**Wow 0_o Review or PM me if you weren't expecting this! (Btw I'll laugh if everybody knew all along!) I got the name Jareth from the Goblin King in the movie ****_Labyrinth,_**** but this Jareth is completely my own OC (just to avoid any confusion) I couldn't really think of a Narnian or Archenlandish name that would fit and I really wanted him to have a slightly otherworldly name, so sorry about that :(**

**So what's gonna happen next? Jareth has a really good reason to be paticularly hacked off with Edmund, since he was the one who discovered him, and he has been known to come up with very evil plans involving the White Witch. Do you think he's involved with the apparent "possessions" that the Pevensies have been suffering from? And what does he plan on doing to them now? Find out in part 2!**


	7. The Revenge Part 2

**A/N: Guess what readers? I'm back! (Cue screams and rounds of applause) Yes indeed. I'm not going to go into much detail as to why I disappeared for 3 months, but to cut a long story short my exams started and that sort of thing, and I just basically forgot about it for a while. Then suddenly out of the blue a couple of people reviewed to some of my stories saying "please come back!" and so I'm here! In case there are some of you out there who have read my other Narnia multi chapter ****_Lying In Wait _****that will be continued too so don't worry! I just had a rough draft of this chapter just lying around on my computer waiting to be edited, so that's why I decided to do it first. Sorry if my writing style had changed a bit btw: blame the effects English coursework had had on my brain.**

**Okay, so to recap: Edmund's stuck in a basement under the London Underground with an unconscious Peter and a nut bag magician who want to reincarnate the White Witch. Got it so far? Let's continue on with the story and as usual review as well please :)**

Disclaimer: As usual I don't own the canon characters in the story…blah blah blah…

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The Just King stared venomously at the detestable grin that spread across his captor's dull complexion.

"It was you." The words caught deep in his throat as the former Duke began to pace slowly around his chair, forcing the unfortunate boy to twist his neck to face him. The Just King tried to keep an eye on his unpredictable captor but his attention was still drawn to the crumpled shape of his brother's unconscious body lying on the floor. What had Jareth done with his sisters? Were they even still alive? There were so many questions running through the boy's head, but only one thing was certain: he had to find a way out of here. Now.

Edmund tried to keep looking as calm as possible but all the while, inside of his mind fear was screaming to get out. It couldn't be possible that Jareth had been stalking them all this time! And yet, as he thought about it more and more, soon pieces of a lost jigsaw suddenly fell into place- sudden noises when he and his siblings were alone, twigs snapping and other disturbances that were left unexplained, and of course, that paranoid sinking feeling that someone was watching them. If only he had realised back then how his suspicions had been correct…

He turned his attention back to his captor, who had deftly spun behind him and was now bending over his restrained form. "You're still as smart as I remember, even though you were a lot older back then," the Narnian traitor stated, placing his hands paternally on the boy's shoulders. Edmund groped angrily against his touch, and Jareth let out a cold, mirthless laugh. His hands trailed slowly down the back of the chair and clasped themselves onto the dark haired youth's wrists, squeezing them so that the blood seeped out from the deep cuts made by the chicken wire, causing Edmund to helplessly cry in pain. After a few seconds of waiting for the throbbing in his hands to stop, the boy opened his tear brimmed eyes and saw that his enemy was now once more standing before him. He stared determinedly into the sorcerer's haunting grey eyes, breathing heavily.

"You're sick!" Edmund yelled, and he began violently squirming against his bonds to free himself, but even with all the effort left in him he only just managed to shift the chair a little. Jareth watched the boy struggle, and smiled malevolently.

"I'm sick? No, Edmund. You're the sick one." The man moved closer to the former King of Narnia, until he was barely a few centimetres away from his nose. His prisoner twisted his face in disgust when the distinct aroma of tobacco smoke mingled with alcohol tickled his skin, as the sorcerer breathed heavily. He laughed again for a moment, his face void of any signs of emotion, but his brow quickly knotted in a furious rage. "You gave your loyalty to our true ruler, and then you went and betrayed her! You didn't even have the decency to sacrifice yourself instead of the Lion."

His voice rose to a sharp hiss as he sharply reached out a dirty hand and slapped Edmund across the face. The boy managed to repress a whimper as he felt his cheekbones vibrate against the sudden force, but still he gritted his teeth and gasped suddenly as the rush ran through him. He could already feel tears of anguish escaping from his eyelids and tried desperately to blink them away, but they still fell down his face and dripped onto his shirt. Jareth chuckled. "See? You're just pathetic."

The magician snorted grotesquely, turned his back on Edmund and began to pace across the room. He squatted over Peter's body and to Edmund's disgust leaned closer to the boy's face, mockingly singing into his ear, "Now then, what to do with you neeext…"

"Don't touch him!" Edmund burst out, and Jareth for a moment sat up rigidly, acting surprised. His mouth however, metamorphosed into an almost demonic grin and he started giggling insanely. "Oh Edmund, my sweet naïve young brother-in-law…I don't need to touch him, or hurt him physically in any way. Haven't you guessed by now?"

"What the hell are you talking about?" Edmund shifted uncomfortably in his seat as the words tumbled uncontrollably out of his mouth; he regretted them as soon as they stopped, although he wasn't exactly sure why. Jareth's grin widened, and he slowly reached into the folds of his jacket, the material rustling as his bony fingers searched desperately for something concealed within it. A look of delight smoothly passed over his face as he grasped an object from within and he drew it out clasped tightly in the grip of his fist, revealing only that it was a bottle of some kind. He took a step back from the body and walked back over to the dark haired youth, who stared with morbid curiosity at the object clutched in the magician's fist. "Do you recognise it?" the sorcerer inquired. Edmund shook his head. Jareth smirked, and then dropped the object onto the boy's lap.

It was a small glass vial, probably only about the size of a small glass of whiskey, that seemed to be made of diamond and encrusted with a silvery metal at the top as a lid. What made Edmund more interested in it however, was the fact that it glowed: literally. It was as if whatever was inside the vial had a life of its own; a cold blue glow gently pulsated from within and speckled the boy's lap with dancing waves of light. Yet, rather than dazzle or bemuse the Just King, it made him gasp with realisation and horror.

"You still have the potion!"

The magician reached out for it, brushing the boy's knee as he took the vial in his palms, and leaned in closer to Edmund so that the boy began to feel his hot breath condense against his warm skin. Jareth answered, "Not exactly the same potion. As you probably well remember your council confiscated the original draught from me before the trial and since I arrived here the ingredients have been a little harder to find than I expected." He seemed to chuckle at the thought of it, sending Edmund's blood cold in his veins. "It still has many of the same effects; it allows me to prepare a body or two for my Queen and her many deceased follower's arrival on the Earth, and in some ways it allows me to have control over them before that time. Unlike the original though, instead of causing an enchanted sleep it makes my victims have…hallucinations."

Edmund froze; his bleeding hands curled into shaking fists as he put two and two together, finally understanding. He glared at his captor, but when he could bring himself to speak the words came out trembling slightly.

"You're the reason we keep seeing the Witch…Why Lucy got possessed and came all the way here to you…You've been giving us potion all this time and we never knew…"

"You wouldn't believe," interrupted a smirking Jareth, "How easy it was to sneak into the common room at Hendon House and let the bottle slip over some of those secret biscuits you had been hiding in your cubby hole since Christmas, and that conveniently no one but you had access to. It was only a matter of time before I bumped into your brother on the train, in disguise of course, and offered him a packet of liquorice that I apparently bought by mistake. The idiot didn't even realise that the packet was already open."

"He's not an idiot!" Edmund tried to force the words out of his mouth, but they merely came out as an unintelligible moan. How could this have happened? He felt contaminated, destroyed from the inside out by foul magic, and the thought made him shiver. What about the rest of his family? They could be anywhere, completely unaware that some insane devil worshipper had the power to make them do whatever he wanted…

"And, finally, I only had to sneak into your house and spike some of Lucy's food, and my plan was complete. You see, once I led her here I knew that you and your siblings would soon follow, and well guess what? You did. Now then, I can finally finish what I first set out to do…"

Jareth stood up again, and turned away from the dark haired boy. "You see, Edmund, I'm having a bit of a dilemma at the moment." He paused. "Unfortunately, a lot of it has to do with you."

"You see, as you perhaps may have noticed the potion worked perfectly on your two siblings; I was in full control of their actions and my Queen could communicate with them quite easily. However, with you there was literally no effect. You did eventually hallucinate, I believe, but it was weak and merely a flashback of your past. To be straight with you, the potion doesn't work on you Edmund. This causes a problem for me, as I can't have you interfering with my plans later on. So I'm afraid I'm going to have to switch to Plan B."

The sorcerer turned round, and to his horror Edmund saw that he was now holding a large knife in his hands.

"You can't continue I'm afraid," Jareth muttered as he approached him, "You just can't."

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**So there we go a cliff hanger! This is where it starts to get interesting…**

**I have two ideas of how to continue it from here. Either the next chapter takes us straight back into the action where Jareth is about to supposedly kill Edmund (eek!) or we go to Lucy's point of view for a bit. Let me know somehow if you desperately want me to do one and not the other.**

**Until then though, I will try and update as soon as I can, I promise! :)**


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